George Henry Rieke (born January 5, 1943), a noted American infrared astronomer, is former Deputy Director of the Steward Observatory and Regents Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
[1] He led the experiment design and development team for the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) instrument on NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope, and currently chairs the science team of the Mid-Infrared Instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope.
[3] Rieke helped develop the first infrared-optimized telescope and constructed a series of state-of-the-art focal plane instruments.
Also, Rieke is the lead scientist on a team to produce a Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) for the James Webb Space Telescope.
Rieke was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in mathematics and physics category on May 2, 2003.